Robert Wolk leads Werner Scholtz
The South African Single-Seaters (SASS) field raced in front of a full house at Zwartkops on Youth Day, Tuesday 16 June. With spectator queues at the gate stretching for hundreds of metres down the road, the SASS racers got down to the serious business of championship points.
Robert Wolk (41 – Chemical Logistics Mygale) was on form from the qualifying session, posting the fastest lap times to claim pole position for both races. From there he proved unstoppable as he went on to win both races – finishing first overall for the day.
Wolk came under threat from Werner Scholtz (3 – Investchem / Motorvia Mygale SJ08) during the first race, but a broken rear wishbone late in race one saw Scholtz limp home for 11th place.
That first race was also not without its drama when Rick Morris (8 – Investchem) spun out on Zwartkop’s Tabletop leaving no time for Ian (10 – Investchem) or Andrew Schofield (23 – Investchem) to take evasive action. The resulting collision between the three saw the deployment of the safety car for three laps.
Dean Venter (77 – Manitou Group / Turnfab Engineering) unexpectedly dropped out of the top four in the first race when he spun out, dropping down to cross the finish line in sixth position.
In the run-up to the Zwartkops event Julian van der Watt (42 – Investchem Mygale SJ08) was Wolk’s nearest rival with the pair separated by just two points. A dismal outing for Van der Watt saw him qualify sixth, not take the start line for race one and cross the line in race two for 12 position.
Van der Watt suffered engine failure during the qualifying session and missed that first race while his team replaced the motor. In race two he again saw the engine blow. This outcome effectively nullifies the threat he posed to Wolk for the moment and with third-placed Matthew Merton (5 – Mygale) not competing at the Zwartkops event it makes Wolk the dominant player at the mid-point of the 2015 season.
Keagan Masters (44 – Performance Masters Mygale SJ08) was the big winner at Zwartkops, posting the second-fastest qualifying time, finishing second in race one and third in race two to end the day second overall. He now moves from eighth in the championship right up to third place, behind Van der Watt and Dewald Brummer (11 – MAD Racing Mygale SJ09). This is his best performance this season and he’ll be very happy with his achievements.
Brummer claimed a third-place podium finish in race one and fourth in race two to end the day third overall – and move in to joint-second place in the championship alongside Van der Watt.
The SASS field will contest their fourth round of 2015 at the East London circuit when the Extreme Festival takes place there on Saturday, 11 July.